Method for handling cans



July 12, 1960 E. E. JEREMIAH METHOD FOR HANDLING cANs original FiledNov. 24.1953

PIE-1 INVENTo ina/ Juin/4H TRA/EYJ Can & Glass Company, Hayward, Calif.,a corporation of Delaware Application Aug. 13, 1956, Ser. No. 603,758,now Patent No. 2,874,856, dated Feb. 24, 1959, which is a 'convtinnation of abandoned application Ser. No. 394,183, Nov. 24, 1953.Divided and this application Oct. 30, 1958, Ser. No. 770,663

Vz'ciaims. (Cmnt-152) f Y This invention relates to a method forhandling cans, and is a division yof my copending application, SerialNo. 603,758, filed August 13, 1956, now Patent No. 2,874,856, whichis acontinuation of my prior application, Serial No. 394,183, iiled November24, 1953, and nowY abandoned, this prior application being a companionapplica- `tion to my copending application filed November 24,

'Umts-d SeeSPffif T l5' the invention, the section being taken on line1--1 of 1953, entitled Can Unscrambler and bearing Serial No. Y

394,053, now Patent No. 2,775,334. This present application is morespecifically directed to an improved metho'd for the placing of emptycans in Ystorage bins inY random orientation after their manufacture andthenremoving the cans from storage so that they may be conveyed througha can unscrambler to can line conveyors of a cannery whereothey are tobe iilled.

Prior to the application Vof the instant method, the cansfromcan makingmachines were conveyed to storage bins wherein they were' then manuallystacked in oriented position in the bin. rWhen the cans were needed inthe cannery, it was then' necessary to remove the lcans manually Vfromthestack and-'placejthem on the canline conveyor. To perform theseoperations two people were required in each bin and they lcould'onlyvhandlefthe unloadingV or loading of one conveyor; hence, thestorage operation was very time-consuming and expensive.

I have found that by locating the incoming conveyors. adjacent theceiling of the bin and allowing lthe Vcansto roll uncontrolled ofiY theconveyors into van unorilen'tedpile, and then removing the cans by aconveyor under the floor of the bin and passing them through va canorienting device, such as disclosed in said copendingrapplication, osimultaneously in loadingthe bin and to feed four to six canlinessimultaneously when unloading, and the operation only requires oneman to supervise the simultaneous loading or unloading of three bins.One problem must be overcome, however, before the unoriented can storagemay be of use.

the cans, for such denting ywill cause jams, in later conyeyingmechanisms, aswell as preventing the c ans froml beingiilled to theirproper capacity.-f "Iith'e Vcans `were merely dumped into the bin fromthe top, so that they would fall unimpeded to the iloor, there would bea great likelihood that the sharp top or bottom edges of theV fallingcans would strike the relatively bend'able side surfaces of the cansalready in the bottom of the bin. Accordingly, it is proposed to lillthe bin from the bottom upwardly in a novel manner so v.that the freefall ofthe cans entering the bin isV eliminated, thereby: eliminatingthe danger of the 'cansb'eing dented. Y

Vnovel method for placing cans in unoriented storage in a binbyintroducing the cans into the bottom o'f the bin it is possible to usetwo orl more conveyors l entre Patented July l2,

the causare conveyedlinto the upper end ofthe bin and are rolleddownwardly to the bottom of the bin to start thepile of stored cans, andwhereby the amount of downwardrolling of the cans is decreased as theheight of the pile increases sd that the newly added cans are.constantly being rolled onto the upper surface of the pile Ywithoutdropping onto theV pile.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent inthe course of the following detailed description. r

One form which the invention may assume is Vexemplied in the followingdescription and yillustrated by way of example inthe accompanyingdrawings, in which- Fig. `1 Vis a sectional view taken longitudinallythrough the center of a storage bin embodying the principles of Fig. 2.f VvFig.`2 is aplan view of the storage bin shown in Fig. l. Fig. 3 is atransverse sectional view taken on line 3--3 of Fig. 1;

f Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals areused to designate like parts throughout the various views shown,thereris disclosed an elongated storage bin comprising a iloor 10, arear wall 11, and two side walls 12 and' 13. Extending longitudinally ofthe bin and closely adjacent tothe ceiling thereof there is provided aplurality of incoming conveyors 14, two of which are shown,respectively, at 14a and 14b. These conveyors are provided withlongitudinally adjustable brush-olf devices 15 and 16, respectively,said brush-Otis .y being` adapted to remove the cans from the conveyorat whatever rpoint the brush-off is located. The conveyors 14a` and 14h'are provided with terminal brush-oils at 17 andnlS, ,whereby when theadjustable devices 15 and 16 arerendered inactive, the cans willautomatically be removed' from the conveyor adjacent the rear wall Vofthe bin.-

' Adjacent the 'rear wall 11 of the bin there is provided:ai-generallyrectangular-shaped chute 19. Such chute is composed of sidewalls 20 and'21 and afront wall comprisinga plurality of horizontal bars23, each of which is adapted to hingedly support a swinging panel A24.The v panels24-are biased by gravity to close the portions betweenthefhorizontal bars 23. Fixed to the rear wall of the bin within theside wallsZll and 21 of the chute there is a plurality of balilesextending diagonally inwardly and downwardly fromr the rear'wall 11, adistance ap- It is necessary that the cansY bestored -in the bin in suchmanner as to avoid denting the sidesof An important object of thisinvention -is to provide a f6.5

proximately three-quartersof the distance to the front wall ofthelchute. Similarly, there is provided a Vseries of iixed balies 25extending downwardly and rearwardly from each ofthe bars 23approximately three-quarters of the waytoward the rear of the chute 19.The baffles 25 are staggered with respect to and interposed between thebaffles 22, whereby a can dropped into the upper end ofthe chute isadapted to roll back and forth on the baiies and descend slowly throughthe chute without a Y vertical drop of any considerable distance'. Y o YY Extending longitudinally of the bin andA centrally thereof, there isformed in thel iioor of the bin amvertical Uv-shaped trough 26.v YAnoutgoing conveyor belt, 27 is `mounted to extend longitudinally` withinsaid. trough. Ay

motor 28 is provided for (driving the" belt conveyor 27,

lsaid motor 28 being adapted ,for intermittent ,operation under theinuence of a mechanism Vto be described latlf. As best'seen yin Fig. 3,there is provided azfals'e iloor- A ing.` 29 which extends diagonallyoutward and upward fromthe .side edges of the trough 26 inthe iioor ofthe bin, whereby the cans resting in Va pile in the bin 'are urged Y ltoilowsdownwardly'on said inclined false ilooring29. vtoward the trough 26inlithecentral portion ofthef r fi'fi plurality of boards V30, whichrboards may beremovedV Thetrough isadapted to bei ilooredv over bymeanso 2,944,688l Y l individually to allow the cans on the forward portionof the pile to fall into the trough onto the conveyor belt 27.

The floor of the trough 26 `adjacent the terminal or delivery end of theconveyor 27 is further lowered to provide a pit, indicated at 3l. Thereare two diagonal elevating conveyors 32 andza, the lower end of eachbeing located in the pit 3l. The upper ends of said elevating conveyorsare located over the supply end of two can-orienting devices 33 and 33a.Fixedly mounted between the walls of the pit 31 above the lower terminalend of the conveyors 32 and 32a is ka iixed'batlle member 34 againstwhich the cans are adapted to pile as they rop ofi the delivery end ofthe conveyor 27. Pivotally mounted above the pit 3l and spaced from the`baille 34 is a movable baie 35 adapted to be contacted by the canspiling up against the bafe 34 and moved upwardly thereby. Fixed to themovable baffle 35 is `an electrical contact 36 which is adapted toengage a xed contact 37 when the movable bathe is `allowed to fall toits lowermost position. The lcontacts 36 yand 37 are located in thecircuit to the motor 28, whereby the cans being con# veyed by theconveyor 2:7 will pile up in the pit against the stationary bathe 34until the cans reach a level to move the movable baiile 35 and hence themovable contact 36 and open the circuit to the motor 28, stopping theconveyor 27. When the level of the cans in the pit falls suiiiciently toallow the movable baille 3S to descend, the contacts 35 and 37 reengageand the conveyor 27 resumes operation. After the `cans have passedthrough the orienting devices 33 and 33a, they yare picked up by canelevators 3S and 38a and delivered to the outgoing conveyors 39 and 39a.

The operation is as follows: The cans being put into the storage bincome in on the can line conveyors 14 and are brushed oli`4 the terminalend thereof into the chute 19, where they descend gradually by means ofthe bafe members 2.2 and 25 and issue through the open space below thelowermost bar 23 on the forward face of the chute 19 and spill out onthe removable floor boards 30 in random orientation. During theirdescent the cans are prevented from exiting from the chute through theswinging panels 24 since the weight of the panels maintains them in aclosed position `and the force of the freely rolling cans against thepanels is insutlicient to overcome the closing bias on the panels. Asthe level of the cans builds up above the lowermost bar 23,

the cans `will no longer be free to exitfrom the chute' 19 through theopen space below the lowermost bar 23 and the incoming cans will buildup in the chute to exert a force on the lowermost swinging panel 24,causing it to swing outwardly so that the cans may issue from this nowopen panel. Again the cans will roll onto the pile until the cansasslune a level indicated by the dot-dash line 40, at which time thecans will again build up in the chute to cause the next higher swingingpanel 24 to open. The cans will now -roll out on the upper surface ofthe pile and build up to the dot-dash line indicated at 41. In rollingdown the chute 19 the cans 'will rem-ain in an oriented manner with theaxes of the cans being parallel. Thus, the force of the cans against oneanother necessary to open the lowermost swinging panel 24 will betransmitted through the relatively stiff ends of the cans, and therewill be no tendency to dent the cans. The cans progressively will openthe swinging panels 24 until the uppermost panel is open and then thecans will spill over the top of chute il@ and assume -a level indicatedby the dot-dash line 45. As will be apparent, each time the cans builduprin the chutey i9 the greatest force will be exerted on Athe lowestclosed swinging panel. Thus, even Vthough the panels 24- are identical,the cans will build from the bottom up and `a force suflicient to openthe lowermost closed swinging panel will be'applied to open that Vpanelbefore a similar force is vbuilt up against any of the higher panels 24.Therefore,

the panels 24 will open automatically and progressively from the bottomup, to prevent any prematureopening E o-f the upper swinging panels 24land thus will prevent any cans from free falling through a considerableheight onto the pile surface. After the pile of cans in the rear of thebin has been ybuilt up to the level indicated by the dot-dash line 45,the adjustable brush-off members 15 and 16 are then activated tobrushthe cans olf the conveyors le at a point where they will fall Von thefor- Ward face of the pile of cans. Brush-olf members 15 land 16 arethen progressively moved toward the front of the bin and progressivelybuild the pile toward the front of the bin.

It is thus seen that the pile has been built up to iill the bin without-any of the cans falling freely through any substantial distance,v andthe problem of undesirable denting of the cans during the storageprocess is eliminated.

When itis desired to remove cans from the bin, the iloor `boards 30 `areprogressively removed from beneath the front face of the pile, allowingthe cans to fall down onto the conveyor belt 27 in the trough 26 Iand beconveyed thereon to the pit 3l. As previously explained, theintermittent operation of this conveyor belt 27 under the control of themovable baflie member 55 thus insures the correct supply of cans in thepit 31, but prevents the overloading of the elevating conveyors 32 and32a. The conveyors 32 and 32a carry the cans upwardly and deposit themat the supply end of the can-orienting devices 33 and 33a. The `cansissuefrom the orienting de-- vices 33 and 33a in an oriented condition,i.e.; all having their open ends facing in the same direction, and arepicked up by the elevators 33 and delivered to the outgoing conveyors 39`and 39a. It is to be understood that more than two outlet conveyors maybe provided, two being shown herein by way of example only.

From the foregoing descriptionit may be seen that I have provided anovel method of storing cans wherein the cans are delivered to the binand automatically Vstored therein without relation to their orientation,thus eliminating the manual handling thereof, and without danger ofdenting the cans during the storage operation. Fur ther, the cans may beremoved from the bin automati-V cally, passed through an orientingdevice whereby the cans are again all facing in the same direction, andplaced on the can line conveyors leading to the cannery Without manualhandling.

While I have shown and described the preferred form of my invention, itis to be understood that various changes may be made in its constructionby those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of theinvention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described rny invention, what l claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

l. The method of storing cans in a'storage bin comprising the steps ofVintroducing the cans into the top of said bin on a substantially levelconveyor extending longitudinally of said bin, passing the cans fromVthe rear end of said conveyor downwardly in a zigzag manner to thefloor of said bin to form a randomly oriented pile of cans on the doorof said bin,` progressively raising the level of the pile of cans,progressively raising the downward limit of movement of said canswhereby said Acans will pass downwardly and then onto the upper surfaceVof said pile as the height, of the level of said pile increases, andbrushing the cans from said conveyor onto the upper surfaces of saidpile when the height of said pile reaches the level of said conveyor,said brushing step being progressively eifectuated from the rear end ofsaid conveyor to the forward end of said conveyor as the pile increasesfrom the rear end of saidconveyor to the forward end of said conveyor.

2. The method of storing cans in a storage bin come prising the steps ofintroducing the cans into the top of Y said bin on a substantially levelconveyor extending longi- Hoor of said bin to form a randomly orientedpile of cans on the floor of said bin, progressively raising the levelof the pile of cans, progressively raising the downward limit ofmovement of said cans whereby said cans will pass downwardly and thenonto the upper surface of said pile as the height of the level of saidpile increases, brushing the cans from said conveyor onto the uppersurface of said pile when the height of said pile reaches the level ofsaidconveyor, said brushing step being progressively eectuated from therear end of said conveyor to the forward end of said conveyor as thepile increases from the rear end of said conveyor to the forward end ofsaid conveyor, and removing the cans from the bin in ldnt-:ir siate ofrandom orientation progressively from the front of said pile to the rearof said pile.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,234,710 Adams July 31, 1917 1,259,583 Adams Mar. 19, 1918 1,779,412Adams Oct. 28, 1930 2,134,948 .Lienau et al Nov. 1, 1938 2,304,455Guerard Dec. 8, 1942 Prickett Ian. 29. 1952

